The name Tibet conjures up images of snowy peaks, vermillion temples and prayer flags snapping in the Himalayan wind. Those features remain, but the religious and cultural foundations underpinning them appear to be coming unstuck.
Long defined by its Buddhist culture, the region is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China’s ruling Communist Party. Tibetans and other minorities are seeing the use of their languages downgraded in schools and old ways of living eroded for the promise of better quality of life through mobile phones, online shopping, higher education and improved health care.
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The name Tibet conjures up images of snowy peaks, vermillion temples and prayer flags snapping in the Himalayan wind. Those features remain, but the religious and cultural foundations underpinning them appear to be coming unstuck.
Chinese tourists have flocked to Lhasa, the capital, and it’s environs, despite the high altitude that requires many to rely on canned oxygen. They mix with Tibetans making rare pilgrimages that include devotional laps around Jokhang Temple, the cathedral of Tibetan Buddhism.
The government says it has brought development to a region long left behind. Critics say the exploitation of Tibet’s natural resources, environmental degradation and an influx of migrants from China’s majority Han ethnic group cannot be sustained.
Under myriad pressures, Tibet’s identity faces possibly the greatest threat in its history. Like the flapping prayer flags, its fate lies in the wind.
Monks in crimson robes hold debate sessions in an outdoor area at the Tibetan Buddhist College near Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Monday, May 31, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Members of the public do their morning exercises at a public park in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
A staff member stands on a rampart at the Potala Palace overlooking the modern city skyline of Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Members of the Tibetan Buddhist faithful pay their respects at a holy site at the base of the Potala Palace in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Graduates of the College of Science of Tibet University gather to pose for a group photo at the base of the Potala Palace in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Students recite vocabulary during a Mandarin Chinese class at Nagqu No. 2 Senior High School, a public boarding school for students from northern Tibet, in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Members of the Tibetan Buddhist faithful spin prayer wheels as they circumambulate around the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Yaks graze around tents set up for herders to live in the during the summer grazing season on grasslands near Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
People rest in the shade beneath a government propaganda banner in Chinese and Tibetan near a neighborhood Tibetan Buddhist shrine in the Chengguan district of Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Women wash clothes in a stream near an industrial area in a village outside of Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Men play a dice game at the Social Welfare Center of Chengguan District in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
A police officer directs traffic near a billboard that reads in Chinese "Study Communist Party history, understand its theories, do practical work, and make new advances" in Nyingchi in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Friday, June 4, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
A man holds prayer beads and pushes a child in a stroller as he circumambulates around a neighborhood Tibetan Buddhist shrine in the Chengguan district of Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Workers sit beneath a large mural of the Potala Palace as they work at a logistics center in Nyingchi in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
A television shows a broadcast of a Chinese talk show program as it sits beneath a photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping in a home converted into a tourist homestay in Zhaxigang village near Nyingchi in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Friday, June 4, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Political conformity is enforced through relentless surveillance of people’s social interactions in actual life and online. Religious practices that once dominated the region have been excised from daily living and the aging Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet who has lived in exile since 1959, is portrayed as a figure of scorn, when he’s even acknowledged at all.
Visitors gather on a public square at the base of the Potala Palace in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Chinese tourists have flocked to Lhasa, the capital, and it’s environs, despite the high altitude that requires many to rely on canned oxygen. They mix with Tibetans making rare pilgrimages that include devotional laps around Jokhang Temple, the cathedral of Tibetan Buddhism.
A must-go spot for visitors is the stone-paved square at the base of the Potala Palace, the former home of the Dalai Lama and his predecessors that is now a museum. As tourists pose and college graduates use it as a backdrop for class photos, its inert status serves as a reminder of the political issues enveloping Tibet.
Over the centuries, Tibet evolved from a collection of kingdoms to something like a unified state that accepted suzerainty under successive Chinese imperial dynasties that ruled until 1912. Full Chinese control came after the Communist Party took power in 1949 and sent troops to overcome Tibet’s feeble defenses in 1951.
Tibetan visitors step into a courtyard at the Potala Palace in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
The government says it has brought development to a region long left behind. Critics say the exploitation of Tibet’s natural resources, environmental degradation and an influx of migrants from China’s majority Han ethnic group cannot be sustained.
Lhasa has seen a burst of new construction, nomads have been settled in model villages and the military’s presence has been boosted to assert China’s claim to territory held by India, with whom China last year came to blows over their disputed frontier on Tibet’s southern border.
On a rare government-led tour of Tibet, Associated Press journalists saw modernization of highways and a railway to the Chinese heartland, schools that teach in Chinese under portraits of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and signs of an emerging urban middle class including both Tibetans and Han Chinese.
Monks and Chinese government officials stand near a billboard depicting Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Tibetan Buddhist College near Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Monday, May 31, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Under myriad pressures, Tibet’s identity faces possibly the greatest threat in its history. Like the flapping prayer flags, its fate lies in the wind.
A class of monks do stretching exercises on an athletic field at the Tibetan Buddhist College near Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Monday, May 31, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Monks in crimson robes hold debate sessions in an outdoor area at the Tibetan Buddhist College near Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Monday, May 31, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Members of the public do their morning exercises at a public park in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
A staff member stands on a rampart at the Potala Palace overlooking the modern city skyline of Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Members of the Tibetan Buddhist faithful pay their respects at a holy site at the base of the Potala Palace in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Graduates of the College of Science of Tibet University gather to pose for a group photo at the base of the Potala Palace in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Students recite vocabulary during a Mandarin Chinese class at Nagqu No. 2 Senior High School, a public boarding school for students from northern Tibet, in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Members of the Tibetan Buddhist faithful spin prayer wheels as they circumambulate around the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Yaks graze around tents set up for herders to live in the during the summer grazing season on grasslands near Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
People rest in the shade beneath a government propaganda banner in Chinese and Tibetan near a neighborhood Tibetan Buddhist shrine in the Chengguan district of Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Women wash clothes in a stream near an industrial area in a village outside of Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Men play a dice game at the Social Welfare Center of Chengguan District in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
A police officer directs traffic near a billboard that reads in Chinese "Study Communist Party history, understand its theories, do practical work, and make new advances" in Nyingchi in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Friday, June 4, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
A man holds prayer beads and pushes a child in a stroller as he circumambulates around a neighborhood Tibetan Buddhist shrine in the Chengguan district of Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
Workers sit beneath a large mural of the Potala Palace as they work at a logistics center in Nyingchi in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
A television shows a broadcast of a Chinese talk show program as it sits beneath a photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping in a home converted into a tourist homestay in Zhaxigang village near Nyingchi in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, as seen during a rare government-led tour of the region for foreign journalists, Friday, June 4, 2021. Long defined by its Buddhist culture, Tibet is facing a push for assimilation and political orthodoxy under China's ruling Communist Party. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)